Passover Tastes for Every Palate

Delicious home recipes to grace your Passover table.

Two of the main Passover customs in food in the Ashkenazic world center on whether or not one uses crumbled matzahs in their food. Here are some delicious home recipes that incorporate both these customs. I grew up in a home where my mother, a great cook, used matzah meal, and then I got married and began making Passover across the ocean with a 'new' set of customs with no matzah meal at all. So I have recipes that span both types of Passover food preparation. The first recipe is one my mother gave me and the others are 'non-gebrochts' as they don’t have any matzah meal in them.

Matzah Meal "Rolls"Makes about 11-12 "rolls"

2 cups matzah meal

1 tsp. salt

1 T. sugar

1 cup hot water

½ cup oil

4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.

Combine the matzah meal, salt, and sugar; set aside.

In the mixing bowl, add the hot water and the oil. Add in the dry ingredients. Start to beat it together, adding the eggs one at a time. It should turn into a thick batter.

My mother (from whom I learned this recipe; I use it during the year as we ourselves don’t "bruhck" on Pesach) says to let the batter stand for 15 minutes at this point, before forming the rolls. However, I did it straight from the bowl and it worked just fine.

Make your hands slightly wet and form small, oblong or round rolls. Lay them out on a lined baking tray, with a small amount of space between them. These rolls shape very similarly to regular kneidalach or matza balls in shaping them. The main difference is that these will be baked.

Bake for 50 minutes, until they are slightly cracked and golden brown, top and bottom. Let them cool on a wire rack.

Slice them open and enjoy!

This next recipe is admittedly a bit of work, but the results are so special that I just felt I had to include it here. It's not every day that it is Pesach and it's not everyday that I would take the time to make such a 'kugel'…

Tri-Layered Vegetable KugelServes 10

For each layer, boil the ingredients, drain, and mash them in three separate bowls.

Bowl 1: Carrot/Sweet Potato layer:

4 carrots

1 large sweet potato

Bowl 2: Potato Layer

5 potatoes, peeled

Bowl 3: Green Zucchini Layer

6 firm, large green zucchinis

1 large potato

Also:

4 large onions, diced

3 T. olive oil

Sautee the onions in the olive oil until golden. Divide this evenly among the three bowls and add it in to each bowl.

Also add to each bowl:

2 eggs (ie, 6 eggs total)

3-4 T. potato starch, each bowl

2 T. mayonnaise each bowl

1 tsp. salt, eachbowl

Very small pinch of pepper, each bowl

Mix each combination until all ingredients are incorporated. Take out a 10 inch round pie pan with removable sides, a springform pan, and coat it very lightly with a very small amount of oil.

Pour in the potato layer, and smooth it around. Pour on top the orange layer, and smooth it around. Add on the green layer, smooth it down. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until firm and set and somewhat browned on top. Present this on a beautiful serving platter, cut one slice out to show off its layers, and serve.

Now, I can't imagine that anyone thought they couldn't make onion soup on Pesach. Onions are the number one vegetable, seconded only by potatoes, that we use so much of on Pesach. But did you know it could taste so good??

Onion SoupServes 6-8

5-6 large onions, diced

1/4 cup oil or butter

(butter, of course, tastes better but we all know it adds in the calories)

2 – 3 T. potato starch, softened with 4-5 T. cold water

11 cups water for the soup

2 – 3 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. pepper (up to 1/2 tsp. pepper if you like it more peppery)

1/2 cup dry or semi-dry white wine

3 T. onion soup mix

Sautee the onions in the oil/butter for 15 – 20 minutes, until they are softened and just starting to turn light brown. Dissolve the potato starch and water in a little bowl, then add it into the onions and mix. Add in all the water, the salt, sugar, pepper and wine. Put some of the soup liquid into a small bowl, add the soup mix to it and dissolve it together. Then add this back into the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, and then lower the flame to simmer and allow it to cook for 2 hours. Freezes well.

For a cheesy soup, add in a small handful of grated parmesan, mozzarella or yellow cheese to each person's bowl as you serve it. And a sprig of fresh parsley in the center of each person's bowl is an added garnish.

And here's another cool (and I mean that word both ways this time!) soup idea that I made up when trying to think up new ways to serve some soft fruit…

Mango & Strawberry Soup Blend

For the mango part:

4 medium sized, overripe soft mangos, peeled and pitted

3 tsp. unflavored gelatin

3 T. apple juice concentrate

4 T. seltzer

Blend this together in a food processor until smooth and thick. Pour it out into waiting glasses and refrigerate until the next step is done.

For the strawberry part:

1 package frozen strawberries (16 oz.)

2 cups pineapple tidbits, drained, juice reserved

1 cup real orange juice

1/2 cup seltzer water

A bunch of small ice cubes

Place the strawberries and pineapple tidbits into the food processor. Add the pineapple juice and puree until smooth. Pour this off into a bowl and add the rest of the liquids. Mix together to form your "soup".

Directly before serving, remove the glasses with the mango mixture from the refrigerator. Pour on top of the mango, enough strawberry soup to fill the glass until 1 inch below the top. Place one ice cube inside each glass and a straw. Serve and watch your guests ooh in delight! You can even these with a round slice of fresh orange hung on the edge of each glass.

I personally enjoy such things as dessert drinks after a hot Yomtov (or Shabbos) day meal. All I do is serve some chocolate cake on a platter in the center of the table and then serve each guest a glass of this "soup". It's very special and a great way to end a beautiful meal. And if you want a great chocolate cake recipe for Pesach, well, you'll have to look it up online in Aish's recipes from 2008, or get it from my Pesach gluten free cookbook!

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About the Author

Tamar Ansh is an author, editor, recipe developer, lecturer and food columnist. Her newest book, Riding the Waves, is on never losing hope while navigating the stormy seas of dating. She is also the author of Splitting the Sea, inspirational stories on finding one’s soul-mate; an illustrated children's book, Let's Say Amen!; A Taste of Challah, a photographic cookbook on making your challahs the best they can be; and Pesach – Anything's Possible!, a non gebrokts and gluten-free cookbook. See much more and sign up for her free newsletter at ATasteOfChallah.com.

Visitor Comments: 12

I make this all week of Pesach. You can add cinnamon in the batter and cinnamon and sugar on top and shape into doughnuts. Fantastic!

(9)
Malka Shaw,
April 11, 2011 6:28 PM

the mango-strawberry soup

Im excited to try this one- although I may use as a dessert with some type of whipped cream topping - but I wanted to also ask the author how this has come out making in advance and then freezing?
as per Alissa while ihavent made that particular kugel- it is my experience that ALL kugels freeze nicely- that is the advantage of kugels for yom tov

(8)
Alissa,
April 11, 2011 9:39 AM

Question about freezing

Does anyone know if the tri-layered vegetable kugel be frozen ahead of time?

eli,
April 17, 2011 6:02 PM

when you reheat the kugel it will be soggy,not a good idea,speaking from experience

(7)
karen mallov,
April 6, 2011 9:15 PM

no oven temperature in recipe

Whalt oven temperature is used in the tri-color vegatble kugel recipe?

(6)
miriam,
April 6, 2011 4:55 PM

great recipes

thanx a million!

(5)
Ady,
April 6, 2011 7:32 AM

Our first Passover

This, we hope will be our first Passover this year of which it will be a starting point on which to develop from. I know that it won't be anything like most of you would do, but we will grow as we go. Thank you Aish for your articles and idea's and of course the food, both spiritaul and that of the stomach. Thanks again, Shalom.

(4)
Cassandra Brown,
April 5, 2011 6:30 PM

My first Passover

This year I'll celebrate my first Passover and I want to include the rolls and both soups. The recipes sound delicious! I can almost smell the rolls cooking through the computer screen. Oy!

(3)
Anonymous,
April 5, 2011 6:25 PM

healthy Passover food

The recipes sound delicious but the majority are not very healthy.
Surely you capable and clever ladies can come up with substitute recipes which would use `from scratch` ingredients and not ready made soup mixes or bottled and canned juices full of chemicals. Surely you can come up with recipes containing less carbs.

(2)
Sherine Levine,
April 5, 2011 5:56 PM

Recipe comments

1. The rolls sound good, but i think the flavor needs ramping up. When I try them, I might add some vanilla or perhaps orange zest.
2. RE Onion Soup: fat is fat. There's no more calories in butter than oil. But oil doesn't have the cholestrol, and of course, it's parve.
Chag Kasher V'Samayach!

(1)
rf,
April 5, 2011 5:37 PM

great recipes, superb directions

Ihave seen many versions of the tri-color kugel recipe, but this made it so clear and easy --and foolproof! All Tamar's recipes are delish, but you can also see her sensitivity & consideration and thinking how best to help others! Inspiring!

I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...